The Cheese Room | A vegan guide to Medway

The Cheese Room in Rochester

It may seem a bit strange for a location called “The Cheese Room” to have vegan options, but Medway is full of surprises!

Japanese food in Brighton

The old pier at sunset

With over 150 eateries and shops listed on Happy Cow, Brighton is an absolute field day for vegans and vegetarians. There are also an abundance of Japanese restaurants in Brighton. Yet the crossover between the two seems relatively weak - the Japanese-owned restaurants do not appear on Happy Cow's listings. As I spent the week with two omnivores, I tried my luck at a few places!

Sun Pier House Tearooms | A vegan guide to Medway

Tea and cake at Sun Pier House Tearooms

Anyone who has followed me on social media for any length of time knows that I'm a massive fan of Sun Pier House Tearooms in Chatham. I wouldn't be surprised if the staff are sick of me by now! But there are good reasons why this cafe is my favourite in all of Medway.

Berlin | The most vegan city in the world?

Vegan currywurst at Curry At The Wall

In June, my partner and I went on our first holiday abroad together. Our destination was Germany, specifically Berlin then Köln. We partially chose Germany because we had heard so many good things about the availability of vegan options in major cities (although Paramore touring also contributed to our choice!) so I decided to share my thoughts on this topic.

The Monument | Canterbury's first all vegan pub

Donner kebab and "The Monumental Burger"

It was my birthday this month, which finally gave me an excuse to visit The Monument in Canterbury. This cozy pub recently had a change of management, and with it a change of ethics - it's now completely vegan!

The Seaplane Works | A vegan guide to Medway

Soup at The Seaplane Works

The Seaplane Works is a cafe in Rochester which offers multiple vegan options, as well as gluten-free and raw food choices. The menu itself focusses on healthy food - gluten-free wraps, hearty soup, complex salads, and breakfast items such as chia porridge are all available. There is also vegan cheesecake!

iAnimal: A new form of animal rights activism

Earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside the charity Animal Equality. UKC VegSoc worked with them to bring their iAnimal experience to our campus.

The Vegan Kind August & September Box Reviews

Hello again everyone! Sorry for my slight absence, I’m back at university soon so life has got a little bit hectic. Don’t worry though, I’m planning on getting all sorts of lovely content written up in the two weeks I have left before I start.

This month’s The Vegan Kind subscription box arrived not so long ago, and once again I’ll be showing you the lovely snacks that it contained. Since I forgot to write last month’s review, I’ll also be showing you what came in the August box. Aren’t 2-in-1 posts the best?

Deaf Cat Cafe | A vegan guide to Medway

A Vegan Guide to Medway is a series of brief posts highlighting my favourite vegan-friendly businesses in the Medway area.

Deaf Cat Café in Rochester has been my go-to food stop in Rochester for a number of years now. Although their options are somewhat limited, they’ve consistently had vegan options for the entire time I’ve been a customer.

Big Grocery Shop! Ocado, Tesco & Holland and Barrett

My household has a bit of a weird grocery shopping system. We’ll do one big £40 shop just after payday, and then buy things as needed throughout the rest of the month. We’ve found that this helps us keep our costs down! We can plan meals, but still make last-minute changes when needed.

Recently, our go-to recently for these big shops has been Ocado. We’ve fallen in love with it because of its amazing range of products for vegans; they have so many great alternatives, including a frozen pizza and a wide range of ice-cream! Nosing into others’ shopping is always fun, so I thought I’d share what we bought in our last big shop. It also included some other bits I grabbed from Tesco and Holland & Barrett.

Veganism is not inclusive.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably white. You’re most likely middle class, or upper working class, with a relatively stable income. You probably completed secondary/high school education, and you may even have a degree or be working towards one. Finally, you’re almost certainly in a western country.

Today I saw a bunch of vegans claiming that veganism is something everyone can do, no matter what social groups they’re a member of, on a Facebook group I’m in. However, the demographics I’ve listed (of which you probably fit at least two) suggest otherwise. How can veganism be “for everyone” if it’s a movement dominated by white, middle class Westerners?

Maidstone Vegan Festival 2016

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the first ever Maidstone Vegan Festival, hosted at the Union St. Methodist Church. Kent had been a bit lacking in celebrations of the lifestyle until 2015, so it’s wonderful to see another vegan event spring onto the scene.

Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets: My Response

My beautiful breakfast instant noodles.

I’ve been a fan of Grace Victory (aka UglyFaceOfBeauty) for literally years, so when I heard she was making a documentary exposing the clean eating trend, I was hyped. I was convinced she’s do a great job, so I made sure to watch it as soon as it came out! So there I was, sat there with my bowl of instant noodles in anticipation (yes I had instant noodles for breakfast, don't judge). But then, one minute in, I heard it.

“HEY YOU BANANA BITCHES”

My heart sunk. Freelee's in it. Please don’t use the word vegan. Please, please, please.

“The number of vegans in the UK has nearly tripled in ten years.”

Ugh.

Just V Show 2016

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Just V show, a free event that showcases vegetarian brands. It runs at Kensington Olympia in conjunction with the the Allergy & Free-From and the Love Natural Love You shows. With the heavy focus on vegetarian and allergen-free foods, there’s naturally a lot of vegan stuff! We attended last year and were impressed, so decided to go again.

Cocoafeliz chocolates / Vegenaise / Bute Island cheese tasting

Vegan pizza at Zizzi | Review

Since Italian restaurant chain Zizzi launched their separate vegan menu in March, everyone seems to be going crazy for their pizza! They were the first major chain to introduce vegan cheese, so it's little wonder everyone got excited. But is it worth the visit? I've managed to eat there twice since the opening and thought I'd share my opinions.